Friday, 26 June 2009

This is Gotharaptor - my latest Acrylic and Spraypaint on canvas piece and probably my last cathedral type dino for the time being. It evolved from my Tyrannogothus beast and is also a Theropod type dinosaur. It has claws more like a Raptor and is in a crouching, ready to pounce position. My first sketch had it looking alot like Tyrannogothus.

I decided to develop it further by adding a row of spikes in a kind of fin going along it's spine. In this way it looks alot more like a Spinosaurus as seen in Jurassic Park 3.

I thought I would go for a night time feel to this canvas - spooky and a bit like Hammer Horror or Scooby Doo even. It has a reakl feel of the British countryside to it and does make me think of stories of monsters and beasts on the moors.

Here's a few close ups...

The head and dark hill behind with a tower and lights of a house. The dorrway for a eye has a light shining in it also.

The spiky Gothic Cathedral tower back.

The back leg cloaked in mist and lightning in the sky behind.

I almost wish that I added a shocked policeman on a bike coming down a hill in the foregound!

The painting is due to go on display at the Cerasoli Gallery LA, USA as part of the Urban Myth group exhibition curated by Inkie which opens on Saturday July 11th.

Monday, 22 June 2009

This is my piece for Off The Record - a charity auction selling records painted by Bristol artists to raise money for the Mind charity in conjunction with "Ear Watt, it's for charity, Mind" - a charity event that has been hosted at the Golden Lion pub on 2 previous occassions.

The first Off the Record event is planned for Sunday 28th June at the Golden Lion pub, Horfield, Bristol.

My piece is of a dino made up of speakers and done in silver white and black on a purple background. The colours remind me a bit of Milk Tray... I have also added a few speakers to the B side and to the sleeve also. Couldn't be bothered to stick photos up of those bits - go to the Lion if you want to see all of it!

Friday, 19 June 2009

I went out and did a bit of painting today with Doodledubz as a way to end my weekk. This is what we came up with! Painted down in Colson yard is this weirdo piece.

The wall belongs to the Ethical Housing association (or something like that) and they wanted something ethical in the piece....Doodledubz started off with his clown riding a bike which is all aternative transport and that, but changed his mind and got rid of the bike. I didn't really have anything sketched out so decided to do a variation on the last street piece I painted - a Gothic Cathedral Triceratops head.

I thought that I would make it ethical, eco friendly or whatever by sticking a few solar panels into the frill and adding some trees/foliage growing in certain areas. Due to the colour scheme I chose and the way I was painting the plant life it looks more like fire! The disembodied Triceratops head looks more like a weird space station or something. Looks a bit Guy Fawkes also, as if the houses of parliament are on fire. Sometimes I don't know where I am going with all this...

Big shout out to Doodledubz who was up all the way from Devon and also to Flo, who I hope managed to fit a few bits in on this piece after I left.

This is my illustration for the Rivals club night in London which will be going onto flyers and Posters. I made the image to look like a cover to a Godzilla type film with rival dinos made up of different kinds of musical instruments. On one side is one representing Rock made of guitars, drums and amps etc and on the right one representing electronic music made up of decks, CDJ's, speakers etc.

I managed to sneak my name into the flyer by making it look like some kind of Japanese writing! Beneath the dinos are buildings representing the Hoxton area of London where the night is held. One of the buildings is the White Cube gallery!

I was worried that this image would work for a bit as before colouring it looked like a pile of junk rather than two rubber suited battling dinos. The colour really helped to seperate them and I think this colour scheme works well. The colours on the flyer and poster have been changed to green and purple, which look pretty cool too! Check out Rivals on Facebook and Myspace for more info on the nights.

Monday, 8 June 2009

This winged dino beastie will be one of a few works of mine in a group art show organised by Friend & Co at the Spotted Cow pub in Bedmo, Bristol on 11th june.

It's in the garden so is slightly dependent on the British weather, but here's hoping for sunshine! It starts at 6pm and will run until it gets dark! There'll be original work and prints from all of the artists who have worked with Friend & Co since the opening of their shop in the autumn of 2008 and some who haven't (yet!)... The show will include: Acerone, Andy Council, China Mike, Eko, Faris Badwan, French, Inkie, Mr Jago, Mudwig, Paris, Pinky, Richt, Sainty, Sickboy, 45rpm... and more!

On the subject of Pterosaurs, I found this vid about a bloke who reckons he saw one once...could be a load of cobblers though.

Gothatops is the piece I painted at this years Upfest. A further development from my Gothic church work it is a Triceratops head made of Gothic spires. Here's the sketch I based the wall painting on...

I was pleased with how the piece turned out and is another development for me in my use of spraycans. It was good to keep it a bit loose and use only a few colours to keep it simple. I guess it didn't add any colour to a grey rainy day! I was pleased to have it finished quite quickly as wasn't sure if it was going to tip down with rain and stop all work. Shouts out to Inkie and Don who I painted alongside.

Despite the weather I thought the event went well. It was a bit like school when I got there first, doing a register and finding my class mates from the Bristol scene. There was lots of really interesting work produced throughout the day and a good mixture of different styles and methods. There were lots of works produced that I rated. Particular faves of mine were by Jody, Solo One, Snub and the SOF guys.

Here's a bit of doodling fun after having a few drinks and hanging out with Boswell, PEN and 3RD Eye...

About Me

I use my drawing skills and love of detail to create bizarrely
intricate collections of creatures; from rabbits made of tanks to
dinosaurs mobilized by ‘lots of stuff’. I was trained in the
traditional techniques of animation and drawing, becoming influenced
by Miyazaki and Geoff Darrow amongst others. I use a combination of
graphics, line drawing, ink and paint pen to create my beasts and I am
now assaulting windows and walls with my unique menagerie.
www.andycouncil.co.uk